gen0rator
Newbie level 2
I hate paying for electricity. I hate being held hostage by the power company. Is it extortion? Feels like it but what can you do about it? Harvest your own power. That's what to do about it. This is a long term project with a huge learning curve but we have a plan based on our particular needs. The wind study is complete and luckily a couple of wind jennies with the help of solar panels will fill the bill. Yes, the pun is intentional.
The plan includes going totally off grid relying on wind/solar for our power needs using hybrid UPS to manage and power our own grid. The concept is simple- generate the electricity, manipulate it to a useful level then distribute the power to wherever it's needed. This concept includes three primary aspects: generation, conversion and distribution. Generation and conversion are the biggies, distribution is 80% solved through the already in place mechanicals.
Conversion is based on the inline UPS concept. We'll take the power from the wind jenny/solar panel and run it through the UPS to convert it to house current. When power is not being generated then we have battery backup which again is pulled through the UPS to convert it to house current. The block diagram shows the UPS layout.
The UPS is uP controlled, transformerless, produces a pure sine output and carries power factor correction circuitry. We have on the breadboard a low power circuit to prototype the first seven stages of the UPS from A/C input through the inverter stage. The pic shows this circuitry powering four CFL's.
I suppose we could stop here, refine the design and have just simple inverters to power everything. That's too easy. We want the bling, all the bells and whistles.
As for the circuitry, nothing new here. Have a look at the schematic:
AC is fed through a full bridge rectifier, flitered and fed through transistors Q5-Q16. Transistors Q1,Q2 are in a PWM configuration with the output firing transistors Q3, Q4. The result is a horrible looking 60 Hz square wave at VOUT which is fine for a resistive load but nothing else. We have motors and fine electronics to power and this type of output will not work for these items.
That's all for now. We'll keep this thread alive by posting the progress and working through the problem areas.
<edit> comments and feedback always welcomed! </edit>
Hank
The plan includes going totally off grid relying on wind/solar for our power needs using hybrid UPS to manage and power our own grid. The concept is simple- generate the electricity, manipulate it to a useful level then distribute the power to wherever it's needed. This concept includes three primary aspects: generation, conversion and distribution. Generation and conversion are the biggies, distribution is 80% solved through the already in place mechanicals.
Conversion is based on the inline UPS concept. We'll take the power from the wind jenny/solar panel and run it through the UPS to convert it to house current. When power is not being generated then we have battery backup which again is pulled through the UPS to convert it to house current. The block diagram shows the UPS layout.
The UPS is uP controlled, transformerless, produces a pure sine output and carries power factor correction circuitry. We have on the breadboard a low power circuit to prototype the first seven stages of the UPS from A/C input through the inverter stage. The pic shows this circuitry powering four CFL's.
I suppose we could stop here, refine the design and have just simple inverters to power everything. That's too easy. We want the bling, all the bells and whistles.
As for the circuitry, nothing new here. Have a look at the schematic:
AC is fed through a full bridge rectifier, flitered and fed through transistors Q5-Q16. Transistors Q1,Q2 are in a PWM configuration with the output firing transistors Q3, Q4. The result is a horrible looking 60 Hz square wave at VOUT which is fine for a resistive load but nothing else. We have motors and fine electronics to power and this type of output will not work for these items.
That's all for now. We'll keep this thread alive by posting the progress and working through the problem areas.
<edit> comments and feedback always welcomed! </edit>
Hank
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